Technology v. Wizardry: The Workings of Harry Potter

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, pervaded with magical wizardry, when compared to technology, and more specifically the Internet, reveals many characteristics of a period akin to the Industrial Revolution and Luddism in Great Britain.  Throughout the novel, Rowling questions the use of Wizardry analogous to the Luddite’s apprehension for technology in Britain.  Wizardry, characterized by dark magic, divination, transformation and defenses, has many of the same implications the Internet has on society, but also, windows of opportunity are opened.  Wizardry, in its pure form, remains harmless, but in the hands of those who are not obliged to the rules, wizardry has many daunting effects, which are far more dangerous than Internet mishaps based on their endless capabilities.

            For the purpose of this essay, a definition of Luddite must be included, “a member of any various bands of workers in England, organized to destroy manufacturing machinery, under the belief that its use diminished employment.” (http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/luddite)  The Muggles apprehension for Wizardry resembles the same unwillingness Luddites had for new technology.  Muggles have their reasons for remanding Harry Potter back to Hogwarts every year, and Harry Potter has his reasons for wanting to go back.  When the Weasleys arrive at the Dursley’s home before they go to the Quidditch World Cup, looks of apprehension are exchanged between Victor Weasley and Verson Dursley.  Vernon’s perplexity shows his unease for intruders who leave his house a wreck, and Victor holds an overly eager look on his face suggesting his want to lighten the situation.   The Weasley boys play a prank on Dudley with ton-tongue, which renders his tongue swollen and protruding out of his mouth like that of a dragon.   As shown in the novel, Wizardry affects everyone’s lives, and the Muggle’s xenophobic ideology may leave them left behind.

            From the outset of the novel, the ill effects of Wizardry weigh heavily on Harry Potter.  He wakes from dreaming of the evil Voldemort, who constantly sees to it that Harry Potter perishes.  Voldemort’s Dark Magic capabilities allow him to haunt the text in an omnipresent way.  Technology, like Wizardry, facilitates global presence but on an even grander scale.  People can communicate internationally from home while making breakfast.  Voldemort projected into the future and bypassed the use of the Internet as he can perform daily duties without technology—he, in a sense, symbolically represents the computer as does his Wizard practices.  Wizard practices are analogous to the functions of the computer, while Wizards represent the computer; Wizards are the hardware which allows the magic software to operate.  As new technologies sprout, or forms of Wizardry evolve, laws are necessary to govern the people.  Like the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, laws against dark magic accomplish the same goal, still, some will not abide.

            Voldemort continues to threaten Harry Potter as he miraculously manipulates the goblet of fire into selecting Harry’s name, by way of Mad Eye Moody, forcing him to compete in the Triwizard Cup as the fourth Champion, at an age generally not allowed by the governing rules.  Voldemort, once again, uses his technology-like magic skills to elicit treacherous effects on social order within Hogwarts.  Harry Potter becomes alienated from his classmates, and friend, Ron, after the goblet of fire selects his name. Everyone surmised he cheated, even after he wastes his breath trying to explain he did no such thing, that some other being, likely Voldemort or Karkaroff, had something to do with it.  Ron remains cold toward Harry until Harry defeats the dragon during his first test at the Triwizard Cup where he succeeds admirably, but the biased Karkaroff gives him a rating of four, who seemingly has ulterior motives in line with Voldemort.

            Dark magic forces social order into disarray, and so does breaking Internet regulation laws.  When someone illegally downloads a song, the label, the artist and the industry as a whole suffers.  Wizards like Voldemort, who break the law, have catastrophic effects.  The result of practicing dark magic illegally often ends in someone’s death.  The power of dark magic, like the power of the Internet, must be regulated, otherwise hackers could easily perform duties that would render the victim helpless, or cost them hundreds of dollars in repair, and wizards could control the whole of the earth with one swoop of the wand.  Harry Potter agrees, “you might sneer, Ron, he said heatedly, but unless some sort of international law is imposed we might well find the market flooded with flimsy, shallow-bottomed products that seriously endanger.” Their power resides in their ability to perform magic as those in the novel are either defined as Wizards, Muggles or Mudbloods.  Hermoine, a Mudblood, is categorized as such due to her descent from Muggle ancestry, coupled with her ability to carry out magic, which is seemingly representative of the “one-drop” concept held by many in order to classify someone as African on the account of only 1% African nationality.  Internet illegality can also render someone dead if precautions are not taken, and can also lead to identity theft and credit card fraud.

            Certain Wizardry practices are comparable to identity theft and credit card fraud.  Given the circumstances surrounding Harry Potter’s life, Mad Eye Moody decides to show his Defense Against the Dark Arts class the Unforgivable Curses: Imperius Curse, Cruciatus Curse and Avada Kedavara.  They allow the user to control their victim (Imperius,) hurt their victim (Cruciatus,) or kill the victim (Avada.)  None of these curses are allowed, but are used by a few of the aforementioned disobedient Wizards of the law, namely Voldemort, who continually violates the law pertaining to the Improper Uses of Magic.  The weight of Voldemort’s ability to penetrate the daily lives of those attending Hogwarts exacerbates the need for a Defense Against the Dark Arts class, much like Internet users must summon defenses against cyberspace predators looking for an easy run at your bank account; one must enter secure sites, cancel lost credit cards and fill out surveys with caution—Wizards must always have an awareness of their surroundings and the situations they enter.  Harry especially needs defense mechanisms due to Voldemort’s attraction to killing him.  Unfortunately for Muggles, they have no defenses—thankfully, their lives are rarely impeded by the world of Wizardry, or otherwise they would be doomed.  Nevertheless, Muggles seclusion from magic breaks social order on a number of levels.

            An interesting dichotomous split between the Muggles and Wizards renders a society that operates behind a veil.  The Muggles perception of Wizardry hinges on the Luddite’s view of technology—they are all together apprehensive and unwilling to accept it.  Therefore, when wizards traverse the open terrain, which the Muggles call their indigenous territory, they must conceal their identity.  The path to the Quidditch World Cup most obviously portrays this ideology.  As the Wizards travel to the game, they disguise themselves as Muggles, they even build tents comparable to those which the Muggles pitch.  During the Wizard’s visit to the Quidditch World Cup, Voldemort, summons the death-eaters whom he created, which causes mass hysteria.  As you can see, magic, in this society, has many of the same effects technology had on the Industrial Revolution.  People were crazed by its potential to suppress lower classes.  Indeed, if they wanted to, Wizards could take over the world by corruptly exploiting their power, much like corporate offices did during the Industrial Revolution and still do.

            Even in a controlled Wizarding environment exploited labor exists, hence Hermoine’s endless efforts to promote her cause, The Society for the Promotion of Elvish Welfare.  The Elves could hardly function properly in a normal society, and therefore turn to Hogwarts for a source of employment.  However, Hogwart attendees and faculty exploit them beyond belief as they perform all of the everyday perfunctory duties that no one else could bare doing.  No one pays them; they are merely expected to work without complaining.  They, in fact, have no recollection of what getting paid for work feels like, until Dumbledore compensates Dabby for his work.  They are born into thinking this lifestyle represents normality, so they know nothing different—a very narrow-minded approach to the world.  As a result, they are impoverished and freedom frightens them.  Rowling mentions several times that they enjoy working all the time for no pay.  Dumbledore tries to give Dabby weekends off and more compensation but he refuses, stating that he feels the need to work.  But Wizardry and the Internet are not always condemnable, for they create new opportunities.

            Without Wizardry, Harry Potter would live an alienated life with no friends or family to turn to.  The Internet also creates new avenues for employment that would not exist otherwise.  The Internet allows for quicker transactions within international markets, and someone has to maintain the websites, thereby creating an excellent source of income and increased number of jobs in the market.  In much the same way, Wizardry provides Harry Potter a window of opportunity, as well as all of the other students at Hogwarts and also provides faculty with teaching opportunities.  Not surprisingly, Harry Potter gains national recognition, something he never experienced before; his relatives, The Dursleys, do not even accept him, let alone a significant chunk of the world’s population.  Every summer he nauseously goes to their home with immediate apprehension and a keen sense of disapproval.  The Dursley’s condemn all practices of Wizardry.  Their ideology, comparable to Luddite’s, suggests they fear the world going completely Wizard, much like the completely digital world the Luddites feared.

            When the world transitions into a certain state, say, a digital one, or a mechanical one, the lower class suffers.  They have no means to attain the proper tools to compete against those that do, and if they wish to survive, they must work for less than profitable wages, or somehow miraculously adopt Wizard capabilities which they have no access to.  If the world in which Harry Potter lived required Wizard tactics in order to survive, what would the Muggles be left with?  Nothing!  And so the transition leaves no room for speculation.  Survival of the fittest would determine the genetic chain of title, and only those who could perform magic would thrive, creating a seemingly lopsided world. If this happened, the Muggles would become elves in the sense that they would be exploited until their extinction.  Extinction is enough to make any race, class, or gender wary of the practices likely to make it extinct.  The Muggles have little chance to figure out the inner-workings of a postmodern practice like Wizardry.

            The computer’s functions at one point were purely mechanical, now they are objects we can think with, thanks to virtual worlds.  In a study, children were asked to tinker around with a calculator—the more intuitive ones pulled off the back cover in an effort to unveil how a calculator functions; they were utterly disappointed to have found batteries because they were barred from dissecting its functions.  Computers have followed the same trend as their physical structure is not as easily discernible as they once were; we simply type information on a webpage, which is encrypted with code, but few know how to decode it.  Computers allow us to have hyper-control over situations via Multi User Domains such as Second Life.  Wizardry operates much the same way.  The children at Hogwarts are taught magic, and yes they have an innate ability for it, but they could not tell you how the code of each magic trick worked; only few wizards who have completely mastered the art can fully explain how they came about doing a certain magic trick because they have the knowledge of the inner-workings of magic—how each realm of Wizardry influences the other rendering a larger whole from which to work with.  By the novel’s end, one realizes that Voldemort has the networking capability to orchestrate a massive plot against Harry as the end of his third task inevitably leads him to Voldemort where Cedric meets his death.          

            The Internet expands capabilities and so too does magic.  Voldemort can network to people within Hogwarts, as shown through Mad Eye Moody’s betrayal to the institution.  The book unveils Mad Eye Moody as the perpetrator of Harry Potter’s demise.  The portkey at the end of the third task sends Cedric and Harry Potter back to Voldemort, leaving the reader to believe Voldemort coerced Mad Eye Moody to work alongside him a synchronized scheme against Harry Potter.  Could a Muggle perform such actions?  What about the elves Dabby and Winky?  Unfortunately, they would have no chance.  They simply lack the means to perform such duties.

            In the world of Wizardry, nothing is what it seems.  The online world also distorts clarity.  Both realms have negative implications on the one hand, but also create new roads to travel down oh the other.  The Internet creates many new jobs in the legal market, at universities and in international trade.  Both the fictional world in Harry Potter and the real world online demand regulation.  Without it, corruption would continue at an insurmountable rate.  Wizards like Voldemort would manipulate their powers to get ahead, just like corporate executives have been known to make a killing at the expense of many.  In a perfect world, everyone obeys the rules, but unfortunately, no such world exists. So inevitably villainy exists, and one must take every necessary precaution to protect him or herself from the plight of social bigotry.  Perhaps the Luddites and the Muggles view of the two worlds is more efficient, but so long as there are those who can carry out the tasks each world demands, the unwilling adopters, like the Muggles and the Luddites, will be left behind.

Virtual Worlds: a Gruesome Dichotomy

The computer has allowed people to explore their personalities by way of virtual worlds.  Attaining psychotherapy was once only accomplished through a licensed psychiatrist, but the computer now allows for therapeutic remedies that resemble psychotherapy; people have gone from taking a mechanical approach to defining computers to a psychological one.  The transition has led to hyper-control of situations, fragmented emotion exploration and a support network for the downtrodden, ill-spirited soul.  As technology continues to support computer’s capabilities, humans will have more avenues to express themselves, thus creating a gruesome dichotomous split between self-expression on the one hand, and a path to electronic addiction on the other.

In chapter four of Life on the Screen, Turkle discusses two competing views of Computer Psychotherapy; Colby argued for the use of computer psychotherapy based on its cost-efficiency, among other things, and Weizenbaum attacked the limitations of the computer as a replacement for the psychiatrist.  Colby claimed that computers are more available to humans than psychiatrists, the service is cheaper and computers are unbiased.  At this point in history, according to Turkle, psychiatrists had a reputation for sexually assaulting their clients, and a computer would solve the problem.  Weizenbaum, however, claimed that computers could never understand a situation in the way a human or psychiatrist does, and therefore, the computer could never replace the psychoanalyst or therapist.  This point segues into a train of thought more akin to Colby’s philosophy on computer psychotherapy.

Today, humans have utilized computers for reasons that Colby expressed.  They offer cheap, quick, satisfying ways for people to express themselves.  As a postmodern tool, it is an object-to-think-with.  In her explanation, Turkle compares this psychological use of the computer to multiple personality disorder merely for a point of comparison, not a diagnosis.  In a sense, Multi User Domains allows one to explore areas of their personality, but one may easily discern one’s personality from another by way of logging in to the chosen personality for that day.  For example, my friend Nia Huerta could create a persona, a virtual representation of a personality she wishes to flaunt that day, that captures her artistic, flamboyant or bemused personality and the next day she can log in as an alienated, emotional male with a despondent attitude.  For that reason alone, many people have turned to virtual worlds.

Virtual worlds allow one to interact on a less responsible level in the sense that the user on the other side will not condemn conversations or movements because no formal relationship exists, and the comfort of knowing that the person on the other screen will never encounter you again if you butcher a conversation or act disrespectfully also adds to the lack of responsibility one has for his actions.  Unlike a psychiatrist, talking to someone on a computer allows for a continuous flow of conversation, for the speaker does not have to watch what he or she says.  Instead, a more open-minded listener is encouraged, and satisfying results are proliferated by this approach.  Not only do computers allow one to explore various personalities, they also allow the user to exercise hyper-control over situations.

Say you have an alcoholic father who gets violent when drunk—a situation every child avoids.  Virtual worlds allow users to treat situations differently than they would in real time, or in real life.  A boy with an abusive boozer for a father may use a virtual world to react to situations in a polar opposite way his father would treat the situation.  This has therapeutic implications because the boy will most likely feel that he is promoting a cause: not handling situations in a violent manner.  Someone who feels distant from family may also use a virtual world for therapeutic reasons thanks to its 24-hour constancy.  Around the clock there are people to talk to in virtual worlds.  Conversing with others can allow a lonely person to connect to other people going through the same thing, or maybe people that have advice on how to handle the situation most efficiently, thus providing a support network outside of the home.  But what happens when addiction becomes a problem; too, what about the negative implications it may have on socializing? 

Turkle discusses in her book that addiction can become a problem for avid users of virtual worlds.  One of the students interviewed for the purpose of the book explained that he used virtual worlds ten hours a day, seven days a week.  He missed classes, neglected his friends and his grades suffered.  Along the way he made some long-term online friends, but he lost his social skills.  In forming his argument, Weizenbaum was as accurate as Colby, but for different reasons.  Because addiction is a possibility, computer psychotherapy should never completely replace a psychiatrist.  Rather, Colby and Weizenbaum’s philosophies should be compromised for the rendering of a more balanced philosophy, one that balances the psychiatrist and the computer as mediums for psychotherapeutic help.  Virtual worlds should never allow you to forget about problems.  Rather, virtual worlds should supplement traditional ways of coping with life stresses.  Everyone should have access to virtual worlds in order to cope with the nuisance of life troubles.

It shall remain important to note, then, that virtual worlds shall continue to emulate a mode of self-expression, transcend the school of thought that one has but one identity, and elicit a hyper sense of control over situations.  These functions need not, and should not, replace a traditional psychiatrist who can truly analyze a person’s problems, but shall be used as a wherewithal for preliminary emotional needs.  If the need for therapy continues, further measures must be taken to prevent addiction to virtual worlds.  Thus, maintain a healthy diet of social interaction with humans, carry on day-to-day conversations with friends and see a psychiatrist if need be.  Computers are considered machines to think with, but they can hardly be classified as an entity that understands the human on an intricate level, which is why the psychiatrist should remain at the heart of therapeutic healing. 

Prisoner of Azkaban Essay

The Harry Potter Series, while written for an aging younger crowd, fleshes out symbolic elements seemingly meant for adults, not children, starting with The Prisoner of Azkaban. Social status looms over the heads of all the characters—especially the two males Ron Wheasley and Harry Potter. Characters struggle to fit in, even Hermione. Ron pursues material wealth; Harry pursues family wealth. Each of them lacks what the other boasts. The competitive world in Harry Potter, and the natural world are at ends with each other. Hogwart’s school children do not fit into an evil world of judgment, class barriers and anti-wizard hullabaloo. The muggles condemn wizardry, whereas, for Potter, Ron and Hermione, wizardry provides a sense of connection with family. For the most part, those in Hogwarts are negligent toward muggles, and muggles deny the existence of magic, creating a world full of controversy and hate–one where any boy, man, girl or woman would have trouble molding his or her identity while shaking the oppressive nature of life.

Social status permeates the novel helping to shape the way characters are portrayed in their dealings with other characters. From the outset, the Dursely family creates a division between the muggle and wizards class. The muggle ideology of the Dursley family does not mesh with the dark magic ideology of Potter. Potter never receives a warm welcome home from the Dursleys after his first semester at Hogwarts, “The Dursley family of number four, Privet Drive, was the reason that Harry never enjoyed his summer holidays.” (Rowling p. 2) Instantly, the awareness of the Dursley’s harsh treatment toward Potter suggests ordinary life outside of Hogwarts will never embrace him. He belongs in Hogwarts where an innovative class exists–practicing all sorts of wizardry that only Rowling could muster. The muggles were all together afraid of magic, and did everything in their power to control it, hence their oppressive, unfair confrontations with Potter. When Potter receives a phone call from Ron Wheasley, the Dursley family proceeded in a tumultuous uproar as if something terrible happened. Vernon Dursely, Potter’s uncle, answers a phone call from Ron, and after hearing Ron’s request to speak with Potter, and finding out he is a fellow Hogwarts mate of Potter, he denies knowing Potter and Hogwarts by explaining to Ron that Potter “is not there” when, in actuality, Potter, at the moment, stands by Vernon. If Potter continued living with the Dursleys, in no time they would drive him to insanity, perhaps depression. Before he leaves for Hogwarts in this particular instance, he comes across a pompous, bourgeoisie sort-of lady, otherwise known as Vernon’s sister.

Though Potter has no bloodline relationship to Marge, still, she requires him to call her Aunt, not in seeking respect, but rather, to spite the poor little fellow of all his dignity. Too Marge feels threatened by his ability to perform magic, and, like all other muggles, she tries to control him. To please the Dursleys, Potter must lie about his schooling to Marge. Vernon demands he tells her he is from St. Brutus’s Secure Center of Incurably Criminal Boys, a place where perhaps Dudley Dursley would benefit from doing time there than Harry, but Dudley Dursley is spoiled even though his character flaws are as numerous as Potters. The Dursley families’ egotistic mindset would not allow criticism of their boy. By the end of chapter two, no family wealth exists for Potter. He must go to Hogwarts to gain a sense of family and connectedness. Even when he gets there, however, his ability to participate in events such as Hogsmeade is hindered because Vernon refused to sign his waiver, another perfect example of the muggles oppressing wizardry every chance they get.
Potter willingly goes every semester to Hogwarts thanks to his aunt and uncle. When he arrives everyone accepts him, aside from a few scuffles he encounters with the guys from Slytherin. Not only do the majority accept him, but he is also protected from the soul-draining Dementor. As part of a community for the first time, and accepted by most, Potter can now set goals and achieve them. Like an oppressed child whose parents beat him, limiting his confidence, so too was Potter’s confidence limited by the weight of oppression the muggles placed on him. A significant shift occurs when he enters Hogwarts. Potter now has growing power and undeveloped control over the magic arts, but control, nevertheless, unlike the lack thereof at the Dursleys. As the novel continues, Potter’s wealth allows him to set the bar of competition above the rest, other than Hermione, who academically out-strides everyone. Harry has an edge on the Quidditch field due to his new broom, the Firebolt, which happens to be far quicker than his Nimbus Two Thousand. Clearly, the divide between family outside of Hogwarts and inside is vastly different than Ron’s situation. Not only does Potter have money, but items such as the Firebolt land in his lap, and Ron wishes he possessed the same wealth.

In contrast to the muggles philosophy of denial and hatred towards wizards, the wizard community demands identification, they want no confusion between muggle and wizard. All of the children are asked not to display wizard-craft in public outside of Hogwarts, which places a restriction on their natural capability to perform their everyday functions. The walls of Hogwarts are only penetrable by those with wizardry capabilities. No outsiders, especially muggles, are allowed in. Thus, a situation is rendered where the semi permeable gates of Hogwarts allow for exclusive access in and unlimited access out, thereby defining everyone within Hogwarts as possessing wizard abilities and noting everyone outside as a muggle. As if the muggles would infect the dark magic playground in Hogwarts the wizards close their doors to outsiders. They want to keep the muggles ignorant of their practices, hence the restrictions placed on the Hogwarts attendees’ wizard-practice outside of the Ministry of Magic.

Ron, while garnering family intricacies Potter dreamt of, comes from a family with little or no money. The Wheasleys, in general, strive to live among the bourgeoisie, but fail to do so on many levels. First, the Wheasleys spend their entire winnings on a trip to Egypt. They could not have been more foolish than going on this trip. Money does not grow on trees, and though a trip may make them feel important, or as if they were utilizing the same luxuries readily available to the upper class, but it will never infinitely satisfy their monetary wants and needs. Happiness may exude for a week, but when reality once again hits, they are left in the same position—poor. Much like the consumers of today, they did not invest, and desperate Ron, who absolutely needed a new wand, barely managed to wedge enough money out of his parents’ pockets to pay for one. Not only do Ron’s parents fall victim to consumerism, spending and strong desire for upper-class approval, Ron himself conforms to the same ideology. Again, Rowling sets forth a division between upper class and lower class, wizards and muggles, and Ron and Harry.

Ron constantly buys Harry new things even though he cannot afford them. First he buys him a skinetascope, which detects the lies of people. Rowling carefully construed this so as not to make Ron appear as though he gives out of 100% genuineness. She wanted his spending to lend homage to his character, one that continuously seeks to bludgeon his way into the upper class. He partly spends fruitlessly because he wants upper class approval, and also because he is genuine, but never completely altruistic. Not only does he fruitlessly spend money on Potter, he over glamorizes material goods at Honeydukes and The Three Broomsticks such as butter beer, lollipops, brooms and wands. Ron thinks that spending and buying gifts will make him as monetarily happy as Potter. He takes desperate measures to appear as a member of the upper class but miserably fails. One only has to watch one of the films to realize his disheveled nature would never pass for upper class.

Harry and Ron are finally conjoined, equally, when Potter goes to Hogsmeade and uses his invisibility cloak. Ron has to work side by side with Potter in order for him to go undetected. However, this instant of uniform collaboration only results out of Harry’s lack of diverse capability, and ultimately, his inability to travel outside the gates of Hogwarts. Once again, a stark difference between Ron’s family wealth and Potter’s lack thereof is blatantly apparent. Hogsmeade, a place that every wizard dreams to go is still accessible to Potter via the use of an invisibility Cloak and the Marauder’s Map, which speaks volumes to his power over the muggles when he resides in Hogwarts.
Harry’s power in Hogwarts, virtually infinite, elicits a situation far more favorable than his bleak, desolate summer visits to the Dursleys. It did not take him too long to realize he had it made in Hogwarts as he willingly foregoes his summer visit to his lackluster aunt and uncle’s home. To add to the tight-niche, family-like feel of Hogwarts, his friends Ron and Hermione stay with him. One again, Rowling set forth a drastic gap between Potters monetary wealth and family wealth.

Hermione, on the other hand, walks a neutral line throughout the novel. Her neutral character offers a central line above and below witch Harry and Ron lay. Rowling never describes Hermione’s family in Azkaban, which encourages the reader to believe she has no complaints about life at home. She also never appears to lack monetary wealth because she can afford to take an overload of classes, pay for the books and still go on all of the trips to Hogsmeade. These three characters, alone, display Rowling’s reliance on class differences, identification issues and family problems.

Hogwarts provides a place for Potter, Ron and Hermione to succeed. Potter enjoys the most advantages of the three by gaining a sense of family. Ron loses in the end, as his family will never have the monetary success that Potter’s family had. Hermione comes from a muggle family, but Rowling never suggests that she has wealth or family issues, therefore making the division between Ron and Potter even more apparent. Each character must deal with his or her own problems, and with their encounters with the ignorant muggles. Harry the homeless, Ron—the poor, ostentatious boy, trying to seek approval and Hermione—the neutral, know-it-all. In The Prisoner of Azkaban, Rowling sets up many class issues concerning muggles and wizards that are surely touched up further by the end of the series.

World War I Poets Essay

Charles Sorley’s To Germany 173 emulates shock in a very ironic way.  The opening line of the poem reveals that flaws exist amongst Britain and Germany.  In a crucial time such as WWI, it remained important for soldiers to appear faithful to their country, which also holds true today.  By saying that his country, Britain, is blind, he reveals its greediness.    The poem then jumps right into the heart of the matter by claiming that Britain’s role was not designed to hurt the Germans.  By doing so, Sorley shockingly leads the reader to sympathize for Britain.  After showing the countries’ weakness in the opening lines, Sorley flips it around leaving the reader feeling empathetic for Britain.  Then the poet delves into the issues of both Germany and Britain; they both have their hopes set on large impressive things and lost sight of what matters: freedom, liberty and justice.  By the end of the first stanza it is clear that neither country will surrender, and shockingly, there will be bloodshed in place of negotiation, a rather shocking ideal.

In view of the war, neither country could look at the other with respect.  To Britain, Germany was yet another obstacle that laid in the way of glory and vice versa.  Only when there is peace will each country be able to look at the other without a veil of destruction.  In line 10 of the poem, Sorley uses “new-won eyes” in a very sarcastic way, which leads the reader to infer victory in Britain.  While the first line suggests Britain’s weakness, line 10 displays Sorley’s confidence, which ultimately places the two lines ironically and ends with one another.  This element alludes to a shock factor above and beyond what any of the parts of the poem could render.  By the end of the poem, one should decipher that their blind pursuit for power was actually not a weakness at all, and Sorley does that by using language that virtually suggests Britain will win the war in an ever-so nonchalant manner.  The penultimate lines welcome peace as if the war never happened.  By this point, the reader saw no glimpse of peace between the two countries.  Expectations were thwarted when Sorley used grasping hands as a symbol of peace between the countries.  After formulating line after line of hatred, he shocks his readers by suggesting that peace is possible in the blink of eye.  After gracing his readers with one line of peace, the last line slams the door on any hope of resolution by ending with dark language: storm, thunder and rain.  By the poems end, one may question if there will ever be an end since the poem begins and ends with war.  Thus must have left an unforgivable weariness amongst the soldiers in Britain, perhaps even German soldiers.

Siegfried Sassoon’s poem A Working Party portrays shock in a less ironic way, and tends to focus on the novelty and often the brutality of shock.  Stanzas one and two set out describing the lack of control and indecisiveness of a soldier who marched up a trench and how utterly frightening his conquest was.  The soldier experiences much agony due to his lack of physical awareness.  The poet describes the scene so as to make it seem like it stands still in time. He even uses the word “slow” in line 19, which musters a feeling of prolonged death, making it seem even more abusive and painful than it is. Sassoon used long sweeping sentences with semicolons to add to this effect. Later, the soldier admits that time in the military goes by very slowly.   The aforesaid struggles provide the first element of novel shock, which will later be incorporated with other scenes in the poem, thus representing the overall novelty of the poem.

Sassoon continues to use the same sentence structure throughout the poem to render the same effect.  Stanza two hints at weariness.  When one thinks of war one usually conjures the bloodiest image imaginable; Sassoon, however, uses the incapability of man during war, and the lack of heroism elicited as a result, to portray, shockingly, the horrors of war.  It isn’t everyday the average human jumps at the opportunity to run up trenches only to lose his way and blindly follow the call of a sergeant.  People have a Grecian idea of war.  Man sees heroism in war, and Sassoon suggests that, in war, “there is a singular absence of heroic poses” as did Stephen Crane in The Red Badge of Courage.  The novelty of shock has not been fleshed out at this point.  Thus far, the mere monotony of war and blind following that man deals with has been the subject of brutal shock.  Not only does war counter our expectations, it leaves man with no control, with the only option to follow blindly like all of the other enlisted men.

In Stanza three, time slows down even more.  A flash grenade detonated, and color takes on a role.  The “whiteness of the place”, “glimmering sand-bags” and the “wind posting by” are all lines that contribute to the slow, tainted and also harmonized view of the scene and the soldier.  By harmonized, I mean the scene itself and not that there is a certain harmonized beauty regarding war.  It is as if there is a crescendo of things happening, still in time, and each event is woven carefully into the poem.  Like a song with busy violin and cello parts, where each instrument, taken apart, may seem convoluted, dashy, perhaps even zinging from one note to the next with no destination, but combine the instruments and the destination is clear; there is a point, the song, as a whole, renders what the individual parts are incapable of producing; yes, like a song, Sassoon created this poem.  Like a song, it emotionally forces you to favor or condemn the words written. The last line of the third stanza explains it best.  Only in war could a shell be calm.  In the heat of battle nothing is what it seems—a very frightening thought.  With all the events filtering around the soldier, his mind makes him feel as if he is stuck in place; two minutes seems like an hour to the weary, bludgeoned soldier.

The poem revisits the opening lines in the following stanza to suggest that three hours went by, which seemed like an eternity to the soldier, but to the reader, only bullets, grenades and soldiers passed by.  The significance is portrayed in stanza five because we find out that the soldier had a life at home, and if something happens to him, he will be missed.  Sassoon wants us to realize the struggle each man in war goes through.  Each person risks various things, contingent up relationships and status.  This poem wants its reader to realize the significance, and the novelty of each person in the war.  We are to view them as a part of a greater whole, which is absolutely needed for the whole to function, much like the structure of this poem.

The penultimate stanza provides a glimpse of hope for the soldier, but is instantly stripped away by the last stanza where he dies.  By the end, the poem takes on a shocking sense of novelty.  Sassoon novelizes every soldier in the war by writing this poem.  He realized the significance of each soldier and the novelty of each one.  The soldier will forever go down in history, and should never be forgotten by family, friends and country.  As I mentioned before, the poem focuses on brutal shock, but as the poem progresses, the novelty of shock is apparent via the use of the soldier’s loved ones.

MAC OS X Leopard

Macintosh users, unlike pc users, have unparalleled advantages. Macintosh products continue to grow in value thanks to constant updates to the operating system, thereby allowing users to get the best out of their computers. The latest technological innovation in the Macintosh world, MAC OS X Leopard, has proven to take Macintosh Computers to the next level. Many new features set it apart from the former operating system: organizational tools, ichat updates and clutter reducing databases are among some of the many changes. As Winston states, there must be a supervening social necessity for the successful diffusion of a product, and it must surpass the law of suppression of radical potential. Leopard provides the solution to many people’s organizational frustrations, and is available to all for low prices, therefore, Leopard will continue, as it already has, to penetrate the public sphere. Indeed there is a social necessity for Leopard. So long as there is a need for organization, there is a supervening social necessity for technology that assists organization, and Leopard stepped up to the plate to provide that.

Macintosh computers have always fared well with the public even before the invention of its new operating system, Mac OS X Leopard. “With such momentum preceding Leopard’s arrival, and with Apple having delivered the OS, Leopard can only sweeten the Mac’s appeal to potential buyers.” (Perenson & Dahl, 2008 ) Leading to the later success of Leopard was its timely arrival compared to its competitor, Windows Vista. An interesting dichotomy protruded from this. Those using windows realized the potential of Leopard, and are abandoning Windows Vista due to its flaws. As Mac continues to perfect the operating system it uses, more people will neglect Windows for a more promising Leopard operating system. Already this trend has snuck its way into the global market.

A war exists between PC manufacturers (Dell, IBM, Gateway and Sony among others) and MAC. Throughout the years, businesses have stayed faithful primarily to computers operating with Windows. However, with the aforesaid information, and Macintosh’s courageous strides in the market with products such as the ipod, one can expect businesses and domestic personnel to adopt Macintosh computers. Macintosh continuously provides more perks, and because of this, businesses have broken the once usual trend of using Windows, and have adopted Macintosh in an increasing amount. Bill gates predicted the need for an operating system in 1985, and released Windows, the first operating system to use graphic interfaces on personal computers. But Macintosh had already beaten him to the punch when they released MAC OS, Macintosh’s original operating system in 1984, and thereby representing a prototype for the later MAC OS X operating system. Windows and Mac OS X have both undergone similar changes over the years, mainly to keep up to date with the growing needs of the public. Leopard’s predecessor, Tiger, matched up well against Windows in earlier years, but Leopard accomplished feats that Windows will surely suffer from. “Apple has again redefined what personal computing looks like. It builds upon the already solid Mac OS X platform and advances all of the core features.” (Gartenberg, 2007) Not only does it build upon its predecessor, it hones the once traditional look and transforms it into an edgy, sleek, look. Everyone has a choice when they go buy a computer, and the perks of each one will ensure its diffusion. Leopard has enjoyed an immense rate of diffusion, which speaks volumes about the changes and the perks that come with it. It has also convinced Windows’ users to betray their usual habits in favor of the Macintosh.

Like its predecessor, Leopard is incorporated in all Macintosh Computers, and is available for download on all existing computers new or old. Out with the old, in with the new. Stacks undoubtedly had an inherent role in the successful diffusion of Leopard. With stacks as an organizational tool within Leopard, Mac users will no longer have cluttered desktops. Instead of storing documents directly to the desktop like Tiger once did, Leopard now organizes documents within a given icon. After clicking the icon, all related documents will pop-up in a rainbow-like motion with the most recent documents protruding out first. Each document also includes its own icon, which allows users to quickly navigate through them. Not a single trace will be left on the users’ desktop, which is an ingenious way to rid the computer of convoluted documents, photographs and files. Whether you are a businessman on the go, or a student rummaging through documents on campus, regardless, Leopard provides a way to access files in a timely, efficient, manner.

Leopard also updated Macintosh’s AIM equivalent, ichat, by incorporating new elements to video chat. As savvy Macintosh users know, the latest versions come with built-in cameras, which allows you to exercise a tangible conversation with your buddy on the other end. When both parties activate video chat, each user can see the other in real time. Leopard enhanced video chat’s capabilities by allowing users to present photographs, presentations and documents to other users. Businesses and students alike have fallen akin to this model as it allows for editing on each end. Each user can allow the other user access to their desktop via video chat, which grants them permission to edit any given document. This is extremely beneficial to students working on group projects. Sitting in separate homes, or living in different countries, students and businessman can file share, which saves time and money while reducing errors.

Time Machine, a compelling feature of the Leopard operating system, backs up files like never before. Anyone, from any field, can take advantage of this tool. Hourly, Time Machine backs-up every single file on your computer, and it also recognizes changes made to files. As it recognizes changes, it will automatically save them as you continue working. It also allows you to backup files from more than one Macintosh computer without overwriting files from another computer. It achieves this by allowing the user to unplug Time Machine while it is in process and connect it to another computer. “Moving a drive from one computer to another has the advantage of speed: back-ups will proceed much quicker than they would over a network.” (Kissell, 2008) In a world that demands efficiency, it is no wonder the Leopard has contributed to the sale of Macintosh computers. It is also not a mystery as to why Mac OS X Leopard has enjoyed individual sales aside from its contribution to the sale of computers in general; people are updating their old Macintosh computers with Leopard.

“According to IDC, U.S. desktop-PC sales have been declining for over a year, yet Apple has shown double-digit growth in the last two quarters.” (Perenson & Dahl, 2008) While Leopard is not fully responsible for this growth in sales, it is, however, in part responsible. Multitasking is a must in the job market today. Many times people open more than one browser as they work on several projects at once. Leopard allows each user to use spaces. You may have up to sixteen spaces, meaning you can work on sixteen different projects at once and still remain organized—here is how. It allows you to coordinate your projects into spaces. “In the spaces configuration screen, you can choose what keyboard and mouse shortcuts will activate spaces, toggle between spaces, or switch directly to a space.” (Perenson & Dahl, 2008) Each space represents a different project you are working on. Toggling between projects allows you to save information you have started on within an existing project and move to a new one. This reduces the amount of clutter on your desktop at any given time, thereby creating an efficient workspace.

Many factors contributed to the successful diffusion of Leopard. First, it beat its competitor Windows to the punch. Since the MS DOS and Mac OS days in the 80’s, Apple has remained a step ahead of its Microsoft competitor. Windows was once the chosen operating system among all businessmen due to its compatibility. However, with the rise in dissemination of Apple products and technology, Macintosh computers will continue to flood the market at increasing intervals and so too will Leopard. Apple producers learned to tweak the operating system in ways that cannot be paralleled. Leopard will continue to sway buyers toward Macintosh and away from PCs. It has organizational potential, quickens file backups, allows for third party editing and a slew of other beneficial perks. As this world progresses toward a sole dependency on technology, leopard will continue to reap the benefits.

 

Works Cited

 

Gartenberg, M. (2007). Apple Makes a Big Leap With Leopard. Computerworld, 41

(46), 30-31. doi 27543914

Glenn, F. File Sharing in Leopard. (2008) Macworld, 25 (3), 92-94. doi 29969048

Kissell, J. Back up Multiple Computers With Time Machine. (2008) Macworld, 25 (3),

43-43. doi 29969020

Perenson, M., Dahl, E. (2008). Apple’s Leopard OS: More Momentum for Macs. PC

World. 26 (1), 18-20. doi 27887015

Winston, B. (1998) Media Technology and Society: A History From the Telegraph to

the Internet. London: Routledge.

The Media’s Effects on Films

Media, Technology & Film.
News media desensitizes the consumers of its content via the use of wartime images, emaciated women in advertisement and a plethora of other demoralizing advertising ploys.  During this process, the media works under the guise of promoting a sense of national security.  Since broadcast news started, it has provided awareness rather than security.  All too often this awareness leads to social chaos—a breakdown of the social structure to a degree dependent on the magnitude of the news.  Images of dead soldiers will create more of an outcry than portraits of soldiers returning home.  We the people have unfortunately contributed to this trend.  As the media has increasingly uncensored its content, so too has film, creating an interesting parallel continuing through the years.

The rise in industrialization led to higher advertising percentages on the part of media conglomerates, which, in turn, prompted the rise in television consumerism.  Americans watched television at this point for entertainment, and the trend continued through the present.  Technological potential, with respect to photography, was suppressed during this time because no one had the knowledge to produce a camera capable of capturing motion.  Photographs were only available to the bourgeoisie in portrait form due to the high expense.  Even the photos available to the aristocrats were staged, and therefore contained no vulgar content.  They used family portraits to send off as a tangible means to keep in touch with relatives.  Not quite desensitized yet, do not worry, the advancement of time and technological innovation fixes that.

As technological advancements took place, photography and television were beneficiaries.  World War Two photography provided the first images in motion.  Viewing images relieved Americans, and they were provided with a sense of hope.  Advertising led to even more consumerism; the people, forced to view what the media showed them, were undoubtedly influenced positively and negatively.  An indelible image at the time, and still today, was the raised flag shot by Joe Rosenthal, which put an end to the inconclusive feelings Americans had about the war.  Independence and freedom was depicted through the shutter of a lens.  For the first time relatives could keep up with loved ones.  This period, marked with rapid technological advancement, certainly alluded to the advancement of film production.  In subsequent years, the media used war images in a different fashion; they used them as marketing tools to gain revenue.  Today, media personnel prompt images with “be aware of the following images as they contain explicit content.”  At what point do these images need to be censored?  The answer is unclear, but if the trend continues, we the people can expect the Motion Picture Association of America’s lenient rating system to fall off the deep end.

Technological advancement allowed for the use of controversial images on the part of media.  Now that the media had the capability to use such images, they began to use them in increasingly unpalatable ways.  For the most part, the media self regulate the use of their images, but how much self-regulating do they actually do?  Wartime images during World War Two, and later Vietnam, suggest that self-regulating practices were employed less and less.  For example, there are more personal images of people in photographs during the Vietnam War than during World War Two.  World War Two captured events.  This path towards bloodshed as entertainment also snuck its way into the film genre; as people viewed more and more gory images they no longer had the same impact on them as before.  Hostel provides the latest example of a film pushing the boundaries with regard to explicit content.  Producers exploit the need audiences have to be entertained.  As part of a consumer society, we like to indulge in the most recent technologies.  The same holds true for storytelling and cinematography.  As consumers are accustomed to more and more uses of film, they expect those uses to be carried out to the greatest potential, hence the increasing exploitation of mutilation on the part of films from the start of the zombie film genre until now.  This leads to a crucial point of comparison.

I Walked With a Zombie represents the first point of comparison, which parallels the media usage of images and those used in film at the given time.  In 1943, the date of the film’s release, the media, as previously mentioned, dabbled with wartime images.  Globally, humans were still very sensitized to the images they saw.  An image of a girl as seen in Vietnam Photos had less emotional appeal than it would have during World War Two, but it still had appeal.  Filmmakers, like the media, have a duty to produce content that fits within certain parameters; a film cannot be x-rated if it is to be distributed nationally under an R-Rating.  An interesting point is brought forth via this comparison.  Would Hostel’s rating been within the restrictive parameters for violence when I Walked With a Zombie was released? It is doubtful.  Consumers had not yet been desensitized to the horrors of themes and images on the screen, for there is a relentless use of the human body, and viewer response would have been ghastly.  Later, events such as the Vietnam War opened the media up to even more unconscionable uses of photographs.  Meanwhile, they gained national appeal.  The media hoisted itself up via the commingling of forces; the citizens need for entertainment on the one hand, and the media ever so willing to feed it on the other.  Ratings determine the success of broadcasters, and therefore it is clear as to why the media insists on using controversial images, and also relaying messages at continuous intervals.  As media hype grew, so too did the interests of the people.  The same phenomenon occurs in film.  However, initially, there are barriers that the respective industries must break.  For instance, the media has to slowly desensitize consumers at intervals that would not withdraw the consumer.  If achieved successfully, as it has since the advent of television, the media will condition them to accept less than moral images.  Said differently, if I Walked With a Zombie employed the same techniques as Hostel, it never would have made it out of pre-production because it would not have passed the standards set forth by the Motion Picture Association of America, nor would the people have adopted it in their homes.  Radical potential of this nature would not suffice the demands of a moral culture, yet to be demoralized by the media.  Instead, it used images and themes that were only as controversial as the content the media put out at the time.  In essence, the media tested the waters, and film came gliding right behind.

Years progressed and so did the media.  The Vietnam War, a tragic event, marked a point in time when the media used images at free will.  One image displayed a little girl stricken with napalm, which shows her skin melting away.  Interestingly, the aforesaid film and Night of The Living Dead were both released during times of war.  This provides an easy avenue for comparison, and certainly further shows the paralleled trends of the media and film.  I Walked With a Zombie broke controversial barriers with respect to social norms at a rate equivalent to the media.  The film never used cannibalism, a theme that had not yet been introduced to humans on the screen.  However, in 1968, after the media had already played its part in the desensitization of humans through the use of vulgar images, Night of the Living Dead gladly used cannibalism as an idea, and images were shown, the result was catastrophic. Interestingly, films have progressively displayed more and more personal race issues such as cannibalism, which is eminently displayed in 28 Weeks Later.

Film, for the first time, presented gruesome events as they happened in Night of the Living Dead.  The media played a role in this film that is representative of their historical progression.  A radiation satellite, projected from Venus, causes the dead to reanimate themselves as the “living dead.”  They walk with much the same poise as the children struck by radioactive napalm in the images produced by the media during the Vietnam War: slow, tainted and corrupted, moving with no clear direction.  As the events unfolded, humans relied on the media for information, which proved misleading and unrehearsed, as they had no concrete plan for survivors.  This caused even more uproar.  The media, in an interview said, “we do not know how many there are, we only know that they are easy to kill.”  Much like the Vietnam War, this movie had no concrete, conclusive ending.  As the stories have told, Americans viewed the war as merciless, and the zombie war in the film, too, was merciless and unending.

Inevitably, technological advancements have allowed the media to use photographs on a wide range of platforms, and as these capabilities arose, they were also able to boost ratings; they desensitized humans one step at a time, until they controlled consumer demand.  Humans now find it entertaining to see gory events depicted in films.  The media broke the ice and film followed suit.  Tragic wars aided this movement; images used during war, and later, the commercial use of striking photographs, has transformed the zombie genre of the past as depicted in I Walked With a Zombie, into what it is known as today: blood, guts and a last pitch effort to save the world.

Macbeth-Shakespeare (in-depth analysis if you are so inclined.)

IMG_1968

Originally uploaded by bewwilson

During the time period in which Shakespeare wrote Macbeth, women were uneducated, they were forced to act submissively and never express their opinions. Shakespeare, by using several female characters with powerful roles, made a complete turnaround from the norm as he went against expectations for the time period. Women drive the plot because of the power Shakespeare gives them. The Witches and Lady Macbeth hold this power, but manipulate it in dissimilar ways. Their power gives them the upper hand, and drives members of each sex to insanity. Lady Macbeth and the witches, together, call into question what it means to be a man, and also, they solidify the powers men possess.

As already mentioned, women during this time period were taught submissive behavior. However, Lady Macbeth has her own idea of how women should behave, which is far removed from how women typically acted. At the outset, Lady Macbeth receives a letter from Macbeth that states his promotion as thane of Cawdor in Act 1 Scene 5, and explains his confrontation with the witches, telling her they have prophesized him as the future king of Scotland, and at that moment her abnormal female identity is revealed simply by her ability to read. The significance of her literacy resides in the fact that the majority of women during the 1600s were unable to read. That Lady Macbeth has the knowledge to read sets her apart from all other females, and Shakespeare symbolizes her power through that ability. Her power stems from her ability to read and her power continues to grow as her ambitions grow.
After she reads the letter she immediately questions Macbeth’s ability to fill a position as king, saying he lacks the “wickedness” needed for the role in Act 1 Scene 5. She sheds light on Macbeth’s political weakness, which foreshadows his downfall. In doing so she breaks social standards for women. Most women would not have questioned their husbands’ authority, but Lady Macbeth does not hesitate to question Macbeths. Her attitude in this scene triggers her gender role for the rest of the play, which is domineering. Lady Macbeth uses her gender to seek out her ambitions. She continuously questions Macbeth’s manhood to get what she wants.

As the play continues her domineering personality takes hold. In her soliloquy in Line 39 of Act 1 Scene5 she asks to be “unsexed,” as her ambitions are proliferated by the note and being “unsexed” suggests her desire to climb the social ladder by shedding herself of femaleness. When she talks the letter over with Macbeth, she uses firm dialogue, telling him to plot against Duncan like a “serpent,” but remain like “the innocent flower,” as she puts forth a bold effort to coerce Macbeth into killing Duncan, which would render Macbeth king. This differs greatly from the submissive roles played by women in other Shakespearean tragedies, and also represents a strong female identity, one whose ambitions speak for her obsession for power. Her ambitions, combined with her power as a woman, enable her to control Macbeth. In subsequent scenes, she questions his manhood aside from her belief of his inability as a king.

As the two of them plot against the king, Macbeth reveals his hesitance for killing Duncan in Act 1 Scene 7. Lady Macbeth responds to Macbeth’s fickle mind by calling him a “coward” if he does not perform the treasonous act against Duncan, and milking it by glorifying the crown and what comes with it: nobility, high class and power. As she puts Macbeth’s manhood to the test he falters, and gives in to her by saying “I dare do all that may become a man; who dares do more is none” in (Lines 46 through 47) of the same scene. Her attempt at questioning his manhood succeeds. Macbeth’s manliness is overridden in this part of the play because of Lady Macbeth’s power. Macbeth questions the success of their plan because he fears they will get caught. Lady Macbeth, however, never budges, which leaves Macbeth with only one choice, to follow through, not because he absolutely has to, but because a “woman” is questioning his manhood, and if he becomes the less courageous of the two he will be deemed a coward. Such a man in this position has to maintain a dominant role. If he did not carry out his duty as Lady Macbeth sees it, he would possess the submissive role known to women during the time of the play. So, he kills Duncan and becomes king and begins to have restless nights sleep with a voice saying to him “sleep no more, Macbeth does murder sleep’—innocent sleep…” in (Act 2, Scene 2, Lines 33 through 34.)

Lady Macbeth has no sympathy for his restlessness. Instead, she attacks his manhood again by saying that he will reduce his strength by dreaming and hearing voices and she tells him that washing their hands will free them from their deeds. At this point, both of their ambitions equal that of one another however, this equivalence came about through Lady Macbeth’s “unsexed or objective goals, which would require no gender. The play would have been significantly different had Macbeth been married to a submissive character known to many of Shakespeare’s other tragedies, such as Lady Montague. Both of their ambitions are maximized by each other’s presence, but Lady Macbeth initiates their ambitions from the start. If Macbeth had been married to Lady Montague, his manhood would have gone untested, and perhaps he would not have killed the king. The comparison of Lady Macbeth to Lady Montague in Romeo & Juliet depicts the obscene amount of power Lady Macbeth holds. Lady Macbeth has a few female witch accomplices to guide her domineering sexuality along.

The bearded witches also play a very masculine role, along side of Lady Macbeth, and Shakespeare even provided them with beards. The witches’ prophecies mirror the ambitions of Lady Macbeth, but in contrast, the witches’ prophecies hold even greater value than Lady Macbeth’s ambitions because they are concrete, they cannot be changed. This proves detrimental by the plays end because Banquo, who never tries to alter his fate, reaps the benefits of the witches’ prophecy. The witches have an even more masculine role than Macbeth, due to their power to see into the future and reveal the course of one’s life. Their prophecy leads to Macbeth’s and Lady Macbeth’s insanity. They have the power to make nothing seem normal, and they control the fate of Macbeth via their prophecies. Macbeth certainly holds no power of the like, and extending the comparison further, he barely passes the masculinity test of his wife, and the witches, from the beginning, have Lady Macbeth’s approval in the sense that they are providing her with the power she wants when she wants it. Lady Macbeth has many needs that virtually no one can provide her. But the witches feed her ambition, and she turns that around on Macbeth. If the witches had not revealed their prophecy there would have been no reason for either of them to plot against Duncan.

The witches’ power presents itself again in Act 5. Along with being assured that no man born of a woman can slay him, Macbeth is also assured that he cannot be slain until Birnam Wood remove to Dunisane because the witches’ prophecy says so. His assumptions lead him to march into battle fearless, which leads to his death. He becomes very trustworthy of his people much like Duncan was at the beginning of the play before his death. The plays gender issues follow through until Macbeth’s death in Act 5 Scene 10 and continues through Banquo’s bloodline when Malcolm becomes king. Malcolm gains access to kingship via Macduff slaying Macbeth. Interestingly, Macduff was stripped of his connections to womanhood because of his c-sectioned birth, and Shakespeare purposely did that to solidify the power of manhood during the 1600s. The only access to the throne was by way of manliness, and not via anything tied to a woman.

Lady Macbeth’s power reached its final point in Act 5 Scene 1, and ends up taking a back seat to Macbeth’s power in Act 5 Scene 5 in his soliloquy in lines 16 through 27 where he expresses little sorrow for her death. The Doctor assumes a feminine role in Act 5 Scene 1 Line 69 saying, “I think, but dare not speak.” Lady Macbeth’s power, at that point, had become so strong that male characters were acting in ways that were expected of women. Her power, along with her insanity, left the Doctor dumbfounded. Men expected women to think but not speak and when Shakespeare used this metaphor, he blatantly illustrated Lady Macbeth’s “unsexed” identity. Macbeth’s power finally dominates Lady Macbeths in the final act when he becomes fearless on the battlefield, but his fearlessness comes from women having assured him that nothing will happen to him. For example, the witches’ prophecy makes him believe he will have nothing to worry about in battle, and anyone born of woman, he feels, cannot slay him.

At the plays end, Macbeth displays how women are typically regarded. He uses birth to show that women weaken men because they are born of them. This presents the strongest gender theme in the play. Macbeth feels that he cannot be beaten in war because of his detachment from any feminine qualities, which his enemies have to their disadvantage. However, Macduff was stripped of his ties to femininity by way of a c-section and Macbeth is slain by him. On the other hand, he has no problem slaying Young Siward. In Act 5 Scene 7 Line 14, after slaying Young Siward he said, “Thou wast born of woman, but swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn brandished by man that’s of a woman born.” The resemblance of gender here is strong in that no living thing born of womanhood had the power to destroy the king. This also means that during the 1600s, according to society, there was no woman fit to be a king. Shakespeare symbolized this idea through Macduff. If someone born of womanhood had slain Macbeth, the submissive role expected of females would not have appeared as strong, and it would have suggested that women have access to the throne by bearing children. This presents a barrier for women’s access to royalty, and also hints at the cause of Lady Macbeth’s downfall. She had too much power. She plagued Scotland with the use of her gender, which was the source of her power. Lady Macbeth was partly responsible for the corruption of Scotland, which speaks volumes about her powerful use of sexuality.

From Act 1 Scene 5 on Macbeth uses gender roles to drive the plot. Lady Macbeth uses her sexuality to coerce Macbeth into killing Duncan by questioning his manhood. She continues to use this to her advantage. Based on expectations of gender roles during the time, Macbeth had to fulfill his duties as a man, and Lady Macbeth feeds her desires from those expectations. The witches’ prophecies also display the power of women’s sexuality. Their bearded faces, along with their prophecies that hold true, render them female characters with utmost power. Kingship in this society was unattainable if one had any ties to womanhood. Women were simply not capable of having access to the throne. Act 5 Scene 5 Lines 14 through 16 say it best, “thou wast born of woman, but swords I smile at, weapons laugh to scorn brandished by man that of a woman born.”

The Jungle-Upton Sinclair

The Jungle, in an effort by Upton Sinclair to display the life of the lower class in Packingtown, Chicago, dealt with social themes, namely that of exploited labor, and in doing so, it predicted life as it is today.  As conglomerations like Wal-Mart and Clear Channel continue to weed out the possibility for independent mom and pop shops, this theme is solidified.  Like in Packingtown, people today in America offer their labor at extremely low prices, and have to do so because of the American economy.  Undocumented workers wake up early mornings like Jurgis did, and work manual labor all day.  Exploited labor remains a central theme in The Jungle, and this issue is expressed through the use of “the system,” which literally eats you up and spits you back out.            Jurgis woke up every single day with one thought in mind, “I will work harder.”  Does working harder really get one where he or she wants to be in America?  If it were up to Upton Sinclair to decide he would undoubtedly say no.  Immigrants are obsessed with the American dream of owning a house, and gaining wealth, but what they forget is the massive amount of hardship that comes along with that.  In Packingtown, the meat packing industry owners selected people off of the streets, and when their labor was no longer sufficient, the owners would throw them back out on the curb, and pick out a fresh piece of meat.  Meanwhile, the rich climbed the social ladder, which widened the gap between upper and lower class.  The system used the laborers up until they were of no use anymore.  When they expended them, they did so without regard to the fact they would have nothing after their departure.  The owners simply did not care.  No one cared.            

Saloons worsened the situation by reinforcing it.  The workers made enough money to get by, and were often in need of shelter.  They frequented the many saloons in the nearby area, and the saloons were more than happy to take their money.  A free beer was enough to keep the laborers coming back, but when their time was up, if they didn’t have a beer in hand, they were tossed back onto the streets.  When Jurgis ran out of money he was no longer welcome at the saloons.  This vicious cycle solidified the laborers place in Packingtown.  They never ventured past the city limits, and therefore, they knew nothing different.  They did not have the means to make it out of Packingtown.  That they were ignorant to other ways of life played a significant role in the cycle.  If the workers knew of a better life they may have set out for different horizons.  However, since they knew of nothing else, they secured their path towards making their boss richer at the expense of themselves.  The workers never saw the fruits of their labor.  Their wages each week were enough to buy a drink at the saloons, which made them more courageous at their jobs.  It was only after they had frequented them a few times that they felt it absolutely necessary to drink their misery away.  The measly check they got at the end of every week had to suffice, and was often spent on spirits in an effort to make their misery subside, hence the vicious cycle.           

A system with no rewards drives people to insanity.  Jurgis eventually finds out that his working efforts achieved him nothing.  He lost his wife and family, and in the process he brought wealth to the meat packing industry.  He came into Packingtown with a stout heart capable of anything.  He left with a tainted sense of the world, which, in the end, was more apt.  He realized that he was in fact the boss’ hog.  They wanted from the working man everything that would make them richer.  The recycling of labor still happens today.  Upton Sinclair nailed it in the jungle, and confronted it before it had gotten out of control.  Bigger companies can afford to hire labor for cheaper, and also sell products for cheaper, which puts smaller businesses in a position to fail.  The workers’ labor at large corporations is often exploited, and they typically gain no benefits.  As technology continues to increase the demand for labor will decrease.           

In Packingtown, the workers were the technology.  It was a synchronous system that relied on the individual in order for the whole to work, much like an assembly line.  When that person was no longer able to keep up to speed he or she was removed from the system.  Today, machines have replaced the worker.  The worker is no longer fast enough to keep up with the computerized processes that are taking jobs that people would normally perform.  Though Upton Sinclair was most likely not thinking of exploited labor past Packingtown, The Jungle certainly caught a glimpse of its potential to spread outward in the early stages.  If American corporations continue on this path, the gap between upper and lower class will widen tremendously.  Soon no one will have enough money to survive.  Technology will continue to take jobs from individuals due to the capability of it to work in a speedy fashion with no mistakes.  America needs change.           

In the end, The Jungle suggests socialism as a solution to the problem.  In a socialist society corporations would be collectively owned, which means ownership would not be in the hands of one individual.  Jurgis pushes for a socialistic society after coming to a realization of his class consciousness.  After working day in and day out, he realized his work efforts rendered him nothing.  In the process he lost his family, and ultimately his life.  The system does not give you back the number of years taken off of your life as a result of working in such harsh conditions.  American business owners need to look themselves in the mirror, and strive for equality.             

The gap between middle and upper class people continues to worsen as corporations expand and technology grows.  The boss strengthens his enterprise as he directs people to work according to his liking. The system harshly subtracts days off of the lives of individuals who surrender themselves to it.  This is all they knew.  All individuals need to follow in the footsteps of Jurgis.  Steps must be taken in order to close the gap between upper and lower class.  Until this happens, corporations will continue to rise leaving behind thousands of individuals who cannot keep up.  Corporations need to sacrifice in order to give the lower class equal opportunity.  

    

Sister Carrie-Theodore Dreiser (part 2)

As mentioned before, Carrie is driven by the need for material possessions. She wants instant access to high society. She met a man by the name of Drouet who has a fair amount of money. Then she meets another man named Hurstwood who has even more money. She is instantly drawn into him because she feels she has insant access to high society.

Though Hurstwood is married and has children, he leaves them to be with Carrie. Carrie soon realizes that Hurstwood is running out of money and her interest in him wanes. As the novel progresses, Hurstwood’s financial situation worsens, and Carrie loses interest all together.

Dreiser speaks to middle class society in this novel. Those in the middle class are always trying to pass the next person, and they are always working to get the next Ipod, car, house, etc. In the end, Carrie never becomes happy. She ends up pursuing her dream as an actor in New York, but not before it is too late. She let consumerism get to her.

Our desires are surpassed by grander desires we acquire down the road. It is important to remember that having everything does not always make you happy. That is what Dreiser is getting at in “Sister Carrie.”

Maggie-Stephen Crane

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The most important thing to remember while reading this piece is to keep in mind the effects our environment have on us. In America, we are expected to pick ourselves up by our bootstraps.

Maggie, the main character in the novella, shows that this American way of life may not be possible in every situation or even at all. “The girl, Maggie, blossomed in the mud puddle. If you have read this, you would know that it means she has blossomed in her murky environment. She has something special that may help her rise above her situation.

In fact, maybe Maggie could rise the ranks of social class if she had any help whatsoever. Crane